Columbia Journalism School recognizes Toedtman

Flagler College informed local Historic City News reporters today that Jim Toedtman, a veteran journalist and director of the Forum on Government and Public Policy lecture series, will receive a distinguished Columbia Journalism School Alumni Award in April.

According to the Columbia Journalism School, the alumni awards are presented annually for a distinguished journalism career in any medium, an outstanding single journalistic accomplishment, a notable contribution to journalism education or an achievement in related fields. The awards, which represent recognition of excellence by professional peers, are highly prized by the Journalism School’s alumni, who include many of the most respected members of the profession.

“This is a terrific award from a great institution,” Toedtman said. “It is really a tribute to the many very talented people I’ve worked with and for in a long career from my early days as a newspaper reporter and editor, then as a magazine editor and most recently in and outside the classroom at Flagler.”

Toedtman is recognized for his distinguished career as a reporter and editor. Before taking the editorship of AARP Bulletin, he was editor of The Baltimore News American, executive editor of the Boston Herald and managing editor of Newsday. He has covered local government, Congress and the White House and has reported from three continents. At Newsday, he was a member of the reporting team that won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize, and he helped direct Newsday reporters who won Pulitzers in 1993 and 2002. He was named editor of the AARP Bulletin in 2005, and in this role, he was consistently recognized for excellence in covering a range of public policy and consumer issues.

In addition to graduating from Columbia University, he attained his bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster and studied at the University of Queensland, Australia, as a Rotary Foundation Fellow. In 2012, he accepted the directorship of Flagler’s Forum on Government and Public Policy. For more than 30 years, the lecture series has invited nationally-recognized journalists and commentators to St. Augustine to discuss issues of importance in regional, state and federal government.

“Jim’s distinguished professional career speaks for itself,” said Flagler College President Dr. William T. Abare, Jr. “He is the consummate professional, and he has contributed in numerous ways to the betterment of our college. I am pleased to know that he is to be recognized by his alma mater for his many accomplishments.”

Toedtman, along with Columbia Journalism School’s alumni Matt Bai, Erika Dilday and Robin McDowell, will be formally recognized during the school’s Alumni Weekend on April 29.